Firefly: The Life of a Reader
by superheroguy
Summary: A breathtaking quest filled with mystery and adventure- a snick peak into River's dreams and thoughts, and even her darker secrets, amazing heists and jobs, River's true powers and purpose, and of course some fights! Every chapter holds new adventures!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Living with Psychosis **

**-River-**

"River" a male voice sounded in the blackness of her thought.

Why are there always voices in the dead of night? She thought to herself, unable to distinguish between the male voice and her own, yet trying to ignore this voice like all the other ones…

"River? Can you hear me" this voice was different. It was…soft… concerned… the voices in her head were never concerned for her… was that a real voice… from outside of her head?

She tried to open her eyes gently, but the light of the real world scared her. The light was too bright for her, it clashed with the blackness of her thought… but she had to see who asked for her. Her sight was blurry at first, and she felt drowsy for some reason. All she could see through the heavy blur was a pair of hands holding her down to the ground… or was it a table? A bed? She couldn't tell for sure, but she could not feel the hands.

"River?" the voice was clearer now. It was her brother, Simon, just on the right, or was it her left… awww what a headache. Her brow twitched as the sharp, yet familiar pain, cursed through it. She felt her head reeling, spinning out of control- and when that happens, she always feels that sharp pain, starting in the hippocampus, and penetrating the amygdale area- as her former self might have told her. But now she was different then before- she had could not hold such information anymore, only pain, and memories… pain and memories.

She felt a warm tear brushing against her cheek, but her vision was all ready blurry, so there was no way for her to know if her mind was just playing tricks with her, like it usually did.

"I hate the way she looks at me!" was that Jayne's voice? How could she be looking at him? She couldn't see a thing. It was only then she realized the light she saw moved.

"I have to give her something stronger this time" Simon said, "she is having another silent seizure, but you better hold her down, she doesn't like it when I make her sleep"

River's vision cleared at once. She saw Jayne leaning over her, holding her tight to the table, and her brother, holding a small flashlight that he directed at her right eye. She tried to free herself from Jayne's grip, but he was too strong for her- now she realized that he held her tight to her bed. _Don't make me sleep Simon!_ She tried to say but sound simply could not get out of her mouth.

"Then don't make her sleep!" said Jayne at once and looked back at River "hell, I can tie her to the bed if she prefers it"

"I have to.. things will get much worse if I won't" he said back as she felt a sharp sting in her neck, and saw Simon raising his syringe and putting it on the table behind him. And then he looked back at her.

_She might die if I won't _

Another voice. This one was inside of her head, but it was Simon's.. no doubt about it. he did not open his mouth as she heard his voice. All inside her head.

"Then let me die" she whispered right before she went to sleep, but she could still hear his response "don't ever say that again! you hear me?"

She never understood people who told her about dreams- all she ever saw and heard when her brother made her sleep were voices- faint voices saying nothing- of people lying on the ground and never waking up. Of course she sometimes had faint memories of the experiments, and other memories that were not entirely her own- but today was different. She heard new voices, combined voices, of people with no face, saying- what were they saying? – NO COLORS.

She woke up later that day, feeling lighter than air. And looking almost normal, as she usually did after he made her sleep. The day was pretty normal for her, more normal than she felt in days. There were no outbreaks of the psychosis, and she could finally help Simon to reorganize his medicine stack. But then she remembered the words she heard in the darkness- NO COLORS. At that same moment she simply forgot about the medicine she was holding in her hand, and dropped it to the floor, listening to the vial breaking in a sweat harmonious sound.

"Are you all feeling all right" Simon asked her with a worried tone.

"I feel great" she said, "only two voices in my head"

"Is that so" he asked her looking concerned

_Aww River, I wish you wouldn't have to carry that burden with you_- her brother's voice sounded in her head again.

"Three voices" she corrected herself "what is a bur..burden?"

"I.. where did you hear that word"

"A voice in the wind"

"You know what a burden is" he said slowly and kissed her forehead

"I forgot" she answered, but before he could open his mouth to answer back, she said " it is something that is carried, or a source of great worry or stress", and she walked away dragging her bare feet on the metal floor

Later that evening, they all had supper together, as always, and later, they all planned their next big heist together… River watched Inara's face, as Jayne pronounced the word heist. Her silky, beautiful face, twitched as she looked at Jayne, and then her eyebrows arched lightly, as she turned her head towards the captain. She stared at his face for half a second, and then gasped lightly, so no one else could hear her, no one but River…

"It is getting late.." Inara started "If you are looking for me I will be in my shuttle" she said and left the room, gaiting majestically outside, her long dress sweeping Serenity's belly as she did so..

Book followed with his eyes, and when River looked at him, she felt something... she felt warm inside, although his face did not give away any feeling at all.

"Time for my evening prayer" said Book quickly and followed Inara out.

River followed Book with her gaze until he disappeared behind the doors. She dragged herself slowly from the room and followed them, still hearing Wash's faint voice behind her "How about we choose a heist that won't kill us this time" Later Jayne's voice "You never help anyway" and again Wash "next time you need picking up, just let me know so I won't come!"…

River followed Inara and Book to Inara's shuttle. She knew Serenity like no one other, probably even better then Kaylee, so she knew all the hiding places as well. River climbed, and hid on top of a metal platform, closest to Inara's shuttle and she could hear everything.

"You know he has no choice" she heard Book's voice, and somehow, she could see him in her head, she somehow knew he put his arm on Inara's shoulder, as she sat down on her bed.

"Everyone has a choice" she answered "you once told me that"..

"Yes, but he is being torn by his two greatest passions" he continued "and he does not know how to act.. give him time.."

"Well, he could only choose one of his passions, and seem like he had made his choice"

"He would come around, you know he loves you"

"I don't think he does anymore.. besides, he had a lot of time to figure out his next move, and it seems that he rather go on with his crimes instead of.."

"Loving you?" Book asked, and stared deep into Inara's eyes "you know it's not true"

"Maybe he will have more time with me gone.. Perhaps I should stay in Persephone for good this time"

"You should count on Mal to make right choices, but give him some time to think his way through. Remember that he has no money now, and some mouths to feed.. He will make smarter decisions after he will earn some money"

"Maybe you are right Shepherd.. But you cannot simply agree to all this"

"I believe, you should do what you need to survive.. as long as you don't hurt anyone… of course I am not a big fan of Mal's heists, but I do believe that there is true good inside of that boy, and that he needs some guidance.." he said and grasped his book tightly

"Somehow I doubt that this is the answer for Mal"

"I did not mean this kind of belief.." he said and tucked his book into his sleeve "any kind of belief, in good- I think he has that, he just doesn't know he has"

"Maybe you are right Shepherd, thank you" Inara said at once, and a smile lit her face "I reckon it will take some time though.. Jayne will not let Mal forget of the money in those heists, that easily"

"We must all have a little faith" he said and left for his room.

River heard everything, but she felt something weird as Inara pronounced Jayne's name. Something inside of River lit up… she opened her eyes at once and looked around, and all of the sudden, she knew what she had to do..

…

River gaited back into the kitchen area, right in the middle of an engaging conversation.

"I ain't taking that job" said Jayne, throwing his feet out on the table "it is too messy"

"You? Afraid of a little mess?" asked Zoe with a faint laughter in her voice, her husband soon laughed with her.

"Didn't say that.." he continued "we need all the manpower for this job"

Simon gave Mal a concerned look.

"Don't worry doctor" said Mal "Inara can stay with your little sister, as long as you help us out. Don't worry, your sister will still be as crazy as you left her.." he did not notice River stepping into the room as he said that.

"I am not going to hold a gun, if that is what you are referring to" said Simon

"Who said anything about guns? And besides with your aiming, we better off fighting some Reavers" continued Mal and a smile lit his face up at once..

"He will have to hold a gun Mal.. this is a dangerous mission" said Jayne at once "but he ain't touching mine!"

"Well" said Mal again "then I am starting to think that this mission is not for us… how about giving Wash a gun instead"

"No offence honey" said Zoe and looked at her husband, and then at Mal "I don't think that this is a good idea"

"Wh.." started Wash, and looked for the right words "I can fight! Remember how I caught this giant spider-rat a few months ago?"

"First" said Mal "who let them in the ship on the first place? Leaving bits of cheese on the floor?"

"I was hungry!" continued Wash, "It wasn't my fault the sandwich was too big.. I learned my lesson though, never eat cheese sandwiches while landing on a planet where people grow spider-rats as pets!"

"Second" continued Kaylee, with a frown "who took Jayne's gun and started shooting everywhere inside Serenity? It took me a month to close all of the holes up!"

"Yea.." said Jayne "he can't touch my guns either"

"But I hit one!" said Wash as a defensive move "right in his mouth!"

"Yes" continued Zoe "you shot the smallest one.. and of course you forgot that swallowing gunpowder makes them grow bigger and angrier!"

"I remember that" said Simon "you know how hard it was to calm River, after she saw monsters both in he dreams and on the ship?"

"And you know how hard it was to get them when they are bigger than really big?" asked Mal…

"Well, it was funny to watch Jayne wrestle them one by one" said Wash

"Funny?" asked Jayne "it took a month for their stench to leave"

"It wasn't the spider-rat's stench, it was yours!" continued Wash looking straight into Jayne's eyes. Jayne nearly jumped Wash, he stood up and Mal stopped him by putting his hand on his chest.

"Well Jayne, I must agree with Wash here" said Mal, as Jayne sat down again "you were definitely stinkier than those things"

"Well," said Jayne as he put his feet on the table again "at least it wasn't as bad as the rash Wash got all over his body!" he laughed so hard that he almost fell from his chair.

"How was I supposed to know I was allergic to these things?" asked Wash with a helpless look

"It wasn't the spider-rats you were allergic to" said Simon and rubbed his forehead "It was the cheese"

Everybody laughed at Simon's words, and even Wash joined their laughter at once. When the laughter subsided, Mal continued with the debate "we still have to decide which heist to take"

Then River stepped right in front of them all, and felt everybody eying her. She heard different voices in her head, Simon's voice saying her name, and then Wash's saying, _is she?_...

"Any suggestions my little Albatross?" asked the captain, as she stepped into their circle.

She looked at the captain as he spoke to her, looking deep into his eyes, and later examining his aura "pretty colors" she said at once "lots of pretty colors" and a smile lit her face.

She heard footsteps coming into the room and turned her head towards them, it was Book, and he looked at her, face full of concern.

"I think you should sit down" she heard her brother's voice next to her, and felt his soft warm hand on her shoulder. He tried to lead her to the nearest chair.

She shook his hand off of her shoulder and looked straight into his eyes "pretty colors" she said with a smile, feeling joy and warmth filling her body. Then she looked around the room and mumbled "bright colors". She saw Wash hugging Zoe in his arms and she could see their beautiful aura together "warm colors".. she said and looked at their aura that started to change slowly into pink and purple. "white, bright white" she said as her face turned to Book again. and then she stopped her gaze, directly at Jayne- "no colors" she said, and her smile disappeared completely from her lips.

She walked slowly towards Jayne, dragging her bare feet on the cold metal floor. "no colors" she mumbled again, looking deep into his eyes.

"What she say?" asked Jayne that did not like the look on her face- the innocent look confused him, and with her eyes fixed on his, he felt that she could see to the bottom of his soul.

"No colors!" she screamed, making Kaylee cover up her ears. Then, with no further ado, she drew a sharp metallic broken pipe, and slashed Jayne's shoulder- she watched his thick red blood, trickling down his shirt.

"該死!" Jayne yelled in pain, and grabbed his gun as an automatic response, but Mal ran to River and didn't allow him for a clear shot of that, that devil child.

Kaylee had let out a short yelp, and Simon grabbed River's shoulder "please drop the pipe" he tried to tell his sister, but she did not listen to him- her gaze was fixed on Jayne's bloody shoulder.

"Red" she said at once, with a tired voice "you have a color now". Mal caught her hand and made her drop the pipe to the floor. Then he held her hand tight behind her back.

"Don't hurt her" Simon said to the captain at once, but Mal did not flinch. He looked into River's eyes, and she could swear that his beautiful colors just turned darker. But after a few seconds, he loosened his grip and stood behind her- he still held her hand behind her back, but it did not hurt anymore.

"I hate that girl" said Jayne at once, raising his gun towards River's face. At that same Second River could see her head, right in the middle of a big red cross, inside the gun barrel- and the face she saw in that mirror like tunnel, turned sad in a moment, and she felt real tears running down her chicks. She could not see her face anymore- the world was clouded by her tears, and Jayne dropped his gun to the sight of her tears.

At first she did not know why she was crying about, but then she realized that it was because of the voices in her head- _he will make you sleep, River-_those were voices she haven't heard before, or haven't for a long time- where those her own voices, her own whispers in the wind.

"Don't make me sleep again Simon" she cried out, trying to get away from the captain's grip, and the more she struggled, the more of Jayne's blood trickled down her hand. "No", she said and managed to slip her arm away from the captain, but it was too late for her, she felt a sharp sting at the right side of her stomach, or was it her left? She could not tell anymore.

"This will not make you sleep River, this is just a sedative", she heard Simon's voice.

She felt heavy all at once, she could not stand, and couldn't even hold her head up- she fell down to her knees and stared blankly at the metal floor

"I will get her back to her room" he said to the rest of the gang, and picked River up with his strong hands, not caring about the blood that stained the back of his shirt. "Red is a color" mumbled River as she stared heavily on his stained shirt "red is a color".

...

**Please** **review**, tell me what you like or hate, and of course I am open for suggestions.

also note that River will not be the only main character in this story… the fan-fic will consist on crazy **heists** and **fights**, and also on the rest of the characters- **Simon's** quest of finding a new cure for his sister, **Book's** past will be reviled, with bits of **Kaylee's** future, and also more of **Zoe** and **Mal** war days, and **Inara's** issues with Mal will finally come out… and more..

and.. sorry about the chapter being close to what happened in the series- I wrote it before seeing that episode so I had no Idea about her already slashing him..

Thank you for reading so far, see you in the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Heist**

**-River-**

River woke up a short while after the incident, felling refreshed. She could hardly remember what happened, or at least that was what she felt at first. A couple of minutes later, pictures of colorless Jayne, started to sip into her mind like a rushing train, breaking down everything in her way. The massive headache, of course she had one, she always had one as far as she can recall it, but it grew worse as more pictures of Jayne rushed into her mind. At last, she decided to try to avoid Jayne as well as she could, this would help her forget about him, and more important, it will make the headache stop. She could still hear voices, some of them she recognized, or thought she did, and others sounded, metallic and non-human. At least she could not hear Jayne's voice- just a normal day, she thought and turned in her bed, trying to find a suitable position- one that will make her head feel better.

She found it easier to avoid Jayne as the week closed to an end, and yet, found it also harder. Of course she could hide from him at the cargo bay, or on wider pipes of Serenity, but not in her dreams. Her dreams became more and more unsettling. The mysterious people without the faces returned, and every night their demands were higher. At the end of the week came their final demand- one of them spoke to her in the darkness of her thoughts. He came closer and closer to her, and then he moved the hood from his head, revealing his blank, expressionless nonexistent face to her and said in a non-human voice- NO COLORS- KILL NO COLORS.

She woke up with a sharp shriek, and gasped her lungs out. The dreams were getting worse, the "no faces" were in her head, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She had never thought about killing anyone, but the thought of killing Jayne came rushing through her head in an instant. That way, I will be able to see all his pretty colors, she thought, but tried hard to push that thought away. She found it hard to resist though, after she heard her brother call out for her.

She came out of her quarters, and ran to Serenity's spare shuttle. Her brother and the entire crew stood there, talking with each other with certain eagerness.

"River" said her brother as soon as he laid his eyes on her "what are you doing here"

"You called me" she said with a crooked smile. She knew that Jayne was there too, but still avoided eye contact with him, at all cost.

"No I didn't" said Simon.

"But I heard you.." she whispered slowly "or, maybe not?" and held her head tight.

"Anyways" said the captain, "it doesn't really matter. We are going on a little.. mission" when she looked at the captain, she saw a vague image of that weird man, the one that has the funny name, and weird way of speech.

"Yeah" she heard Jayne's voice and automatically cocked her head to one of Serenity's walls to avoid contact "We are going to pluck ourselves a little badger's head tonight".

From her position, River could see Inara's worried look.

"Not to worry" came the captain's voice "he just owes us some cash from our last visit in Persephone"

"Are you not afraid of an act of revenge from your old friend Atherton?" asked Inara with a half smile.

"I don't think that those little swords getting in the way of my true happiness" said the captain "I have Jayne with me this time, and, we are also in a civilized planet, so I reckon you will be able to get back with some of your precious clientele."

Just hearing Jayne's voice made River sick to her stomach, but luckily for her they finished at that, and the captain and Jayne took the shuttle back to Persephone to meet the strange little man.

That afternoon was amazing- she did not have to worry at all about Jayne, and her head felt lighter. In fact, she felt almost normal again. Actually, she could play jakes with Kaylee like she liked to do, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Kaylee had some kind of a weird expression on her face when she talked to her.. oh well, she thought and dropped the ball, letting it bounce back to the air.

**-Plucking a Badger's Head-**

"Tell me gentlemen," said Badger in his slinky way, and with his heavy accent "to what do I owe this pleasure"

"Shut up, Badger" yelled Jayne and lifted Badger from the ground "where is the cash you promised us?"

"Relax, Jayne" said Mal "please put the little rodent down"

Jayne listened and dropped it down with unwillingness.

"Yeah, b'out that…" started Badger, but Mal interrupted "now you can lift him"

Jayne accepted with joy, and lifted Badger as high as the ceiling would let him.

"Wait, wait!" cried Badger "I don't have it, but I know how you can get it"

Jayne replaced some looks with the captain "you see" said Mal "this is not good enough for us now. We kind of promised the crew something special to eat tonight, and we don't like to break our promises, is that right Jayne"

"Right. But I don't care about breaking some necks"

"And more!" cried Badger "you can get your money and more!"

"How much more?" asked Jayne with a greedy expression on his face, and twinkling eyes.

"Let's just say that it would be more that you ever stole in a single heist"

Jayne dropped him down again, trying to picture himself with all the money Badger talked about.

"You see" said Mal "when you say heist, I start to feel a little worried. Why don't you just take the money for yourself?"

"No that's fine" said Jayne with enthusiasm, "we will be happy to take it from you".

They both ignored Jayne and started to talk tactics.

"There is a special artifact" said Badger, "back from earth that was. Costs thousands in black market. One o' the few that alliance did not get their hands on yet. And it is right here in the city"

"Enough fancy talk Badger, those aristocrats must have some strict security on their hands"

"True, but this artifact is not in their hands. It is called a boomerang"

"A boomerang?" asked Mal "I thought that that was just a game"

"Not this one" he said and pulled a piece of paper from under his table showing it to Mal. On the paper, was printed a picture of a wooden looking boomerang, with a couple of blue stripes and what seem to be a couple of buttons on each side of the device "this one" Badger pointed at one of the buttons "this one makes razors pop out of it. And this one" he pointed at the other one "this makes it come back to you from every given place".

"How do we get to it?" asked Mal that thought he could use one of these boomerangs if he will not find a buyer

"It is in the city museum. Hidden inside one of the relics, paintings, pictures- could be anywhere, but it is definitely there"

"How do we know that you are not lying?" asked Jayne and gripped Badger's collar. The answer "anywhere" seem to make him feel that the money is getting away from him.

"Because I know who hid it there. And I have the entire layout of the museum right here, and also the security shifts" he said and put another piece of paper on the table "and if you don't believe me you can choose not to take the mission. I will just have to find someone who is more capable of getting that easy money."

"We will take it" said Jayne with a smile, and put the paper in his pocket.

Mal knew that he cannot argue with Jayne, and started off "but we will come back if it is not there" he said and they both left.

**….**

A short while after the gullible captain and his ape left, Badge locked the door and covered the windows of his shack. "You can come out now" he said and sank back to his chair.

"Are you sure you had them convinced?" a male voice came from the back room of the shack.

"Ai, he is going to the museum"

A man stepped out of the shadows. He was well dressed, and it seem strange for a man of his external appearance to walk in those parts of town. There was no doubt about the identity of that man, the scar on his shoulder was visible through his thin clothes- Atherton. "Good" he said "because I don't like to lose artifacts from my private collection, that would be a shame, wouldn't it?"

"Ai, a shame indeed" answered Badger while sliding his fingers on his collar

"Good. Then it is the time for our dear old captain to learn a bit about revenge".

**-In Serenity-**

Mal and Jayne brought the shuttle back, and met with everyone in the kitchen, having their dinner.

"Look whose here" said Wash with joy, "What did you bring me captain?"

"Nothing for you, actually" said the captain, and looked at Inara "but we go have something for you. I believe we have found you another client"

"Who?" she asked with unease "don't tell me it's Badger"

"He is almost as good as Badger" answered Mal with a smile, "I am talking about Simon"

"What?" cried Simon and Inara at the same time, while the preacher spilled a little milk on his shirt.

"Yeap" smiled Mal "I need you to do a little something for me"

**-A Trip to the Museum -**

"I can't believe I am doing this" said Simon after both he and Inara passed the main entrance to the museum.

"You know Mal and his ideas" said Inara with a gentle smile

"No. I can't believe I've let him convince me into spying for him".

"This is not spying" said Inara "as soon as we will find this boomerang we will go"

They looked around for the captain's precious little artifact in every picture, every vase or pottery they could find, but no sign for that weapon could be found.

"At least we could still enjoy this beautiful art" said Inara, looking at a weird looking vase, sitting inside a glass case.

"These people have weird taste" he said looking at a colorful rug that looked like someone blasted a bunch of colors on.

"I don't know" said Inara "this is kind of interesting" she kept on looking at the weird vase, tilting her head to the side, as if she thought the one who made it, made a horrible mistake and built it on its sides.

"Wait" said Simon and got closer to Inara, examining the vase, it took him a little while to see it, but then it was as clear as day- the boomerang was right there, grafted into the vase. It was hard to notice at first, but with a closer look, he could see that the original handle of the vase was broken, and someone had replaced it with the boomerang, that had the same color to it, as the entire vase.

The room was almost empty, and no one seem to care about that specific area, but the security guard, and security camera, posed some kind of a problem.

"Let me handle it" said Inara and walked towards the security guard. Simon kept a close look at the camera and saw the lens following Inara's footsteps- a motion detector, he figured, that means that he would have to make very slow movements, slower then Inara's if he wants to get the job done.

Inara gaited gracefully to guard, and passed him for a bit, so he would have to turn in order to follow her with his gaze, and he did. "Hello there" she said.

"Hi, ma'am" said the chubby guard and his eyes twinkled when she talked to him.

"You look like a nice fellow"

He swallowed hard before talking again "aren't you with that guy" he said and started to look backwards, but Inara put her soft hand on his cheek. "Yes" she said "But he did not pay me yet, and I do believe that he will not pay in full, so I allow myself to play around" in the corner of her eye she managed to see Simon take the vial out of his shirt, and spread some of its content, on the glass case, the boomerang lay in. He did it so slowly, so she figured that the cameras were motion detectors, and started to move a bit in her spot to attract them.

The guard did not seem to mind her sudden uneasiness and asked "A dignified companion such as yourself, playing around like that"

"Yes," she whispered in his ear, when his shoulder blocked her view of Simon. And when she saw he had finished his job, she whispered again, "Perhaps you are right, I should get back to work then"

Simon came to her and slid his paw into hers, "goodbye then" she said to the guard, and Simon spit out "What did I tell you about talking to strangers?" until they were out of sight. With a faint smile, they both left the museum.

**-Closing Time at the Museum -**

The plan was simple, or simple enough- Mal and Jayne were to destruct the guards while Kaylee and Zoe would slide down a zip line to the top of the museum, and then into it, fixing the camera and taking the boomerang out. It did seem a bit more difficult from Jayne's idea of breaking the front door and shooting everyone, but it was the final plan, and they followed through with it.

"OK" said Wash to the communicator, so they all heard him loud and clear "I am in position, shoot the line"

Zoe listened, and shot the Zip line from the almost invisible shuttle to the museum's roof. The line was solid enough so she slid down, and Kaylee after her, whispering "Weeehhhhh" to herself.

When they were finally on the roof, Kaylee pulled out her disruptors, and connected it to the roof. The ceiling of that museum was a very special one, was a hologram that was totally solid on the outside, and displayed the image of sky to the audience inside of the museum. The disruptor managed to disrupt the image, and make the hologram un-solid.

"Piece of cake" said Kaylee, with a smile while Zoe carefully dropped the rope inside. The rope was also one of Kaylee's invention- once touching the floor, the part' robotic end of the rope, would activate. Kaylee pulled a little pad from her pocket, and another round device. She gave the little sphere to Zoe and said "attach it slowly to the camera, and it will make it glitch, she will see everything in slow-mo" she giggled, and looked back at her pad. She pressed it a couple of times, and a picture of the entire museum popped into it. Another press, and she saw the entire schematics of the building and another, made her see all of the hit signatures and camera locations. She dragged her finger on the pad, until it reached from the middle of the room, right next to the camera. "Thank god that those cameras have also hit signatures, it would have taken me forever to make the rope reach into position if it was hot" she smiled again, saying "good job" to her pad, after the rope reached his spot.

Zoe slid carefully on the rope, dangling slowly behind the camera's range. She carried herself slowly to the side of the camera and planted the little round device on its side. At the moment she put it on the camera, it made some kind of a "click" sound. But nothing else. Zoe was left dangling on the rope when she heard a sound coming from behind one of the closed doors. "Guys" she heard Kaylee talking from above- "you better hurry"

"On our way" she heard Mal's answer.

**…..**

"Would you hurry up please" asked Mal as he saw Jayne strapping his gun "they are in trouble back there"

"We will be in trouble too if the guards will see my gun", said Jayne and finally hid his gun under his uniform.

"Why do you need your gun for?" asked Mal, "you are dressed as a security guard, you already have a gun"

They both actually wore those outfits, posing as security guard was the safest way to help the girls without being noticed.

"I don't care for that piece of 甲虫靶垛裂缝. I couldn't shoot a blind old hag with this gun".

"Did you intend to shoot an old hag today?"

"Guys" sounded Zoe's choked voice over the communicator "if you don't like to be kept hanging if you know what I mean".

"We are coming" said Mal as they snuck from behind one of the big trees that laid around the museum. Jayne knocked on the door, hard- and one of the security guards came to open the door for them.

"Who are you?" asked the guard

"Larry and Billard, sent us, they were both sick today- they thought that we could replace them today.

"Yeah!" said Jayne and looked at the tree where he hid the unconscious guards they stole their clothes from.

"You still didn't answer my question"

Jayne did not wait, and knocked the guard out with his wrist. Mal looked at him in his "what did you do that for" kind of look, and Jayne just grabbed the man out, to where his unconscious friends lay. They went inside, and covered their faces with their caps. Jayne brought Mal the paper he took from Badger's "office" and Mal snatched it from his hand.

"Let's see" he said as he examined the map, "let's see what's behind door number one shall we?" he said and lead Jayne to the room that contained their reward.

**….**

A few seconds later, Zoe heard the door open, and she froze in place, struggling to hold on to the rope. One of the guards came straight in, and another bigger one behind him. She was so glad to see them, and signaled Kaylee to get her down, but the rope moved to slow for her, and she couldn't hold on anymore. Her already sweaty hand slipped, and she fell down to the ground, falling into something squishy. She looked around and saw Jayne's silly smile- "Miss me?" he asked as she struggled to escape from his killer grip.

"Just don't tell my husband will you" said Zoe with what could have been mistaken with a smile.

"Don't tell my husband what" sounded Wash's voice in the communicator

"Nothing dear"

"Shut up you two" said Mal and went to guard his door.

"Now where did that Doctor hide the mark?" asked Jane while getting out of his bag, one of the night vision goggles Kaylee had made for him.

After looking for a while he asked with temper "where did that doctor hide the cash? Did he move it or something! Oww, here it is" he said and walked to the glass case that had something written on it, seen only through the glasses- it said- "Do not ste-al me!" he repeated it loudly "what does it mean?" he asked after pronouncing it wrong.

"It says don't steal me, Jayne" said Kaylee sliding down on her rope.

"Why would anyone want to steal me?" asked Jayne

"I meant " started Kaylee "never mind" she pulled from her other pocket some weird looking tools and started to work on the locks.

In the meanwhile Jane stepped out of the room, to help Mal guard it- after all, he had the only proper gun.

It took Kaylee a few minutes to crack the lock, but of course she did, but their trip was about to take some unexpected twist.

Jayne heard voices coming from within the museum, and went to see what it was, but he could not see Mal anywhere. After a few steps, he wished he stayed in the room with Kaylee and Zoe. He pressed on his communicator three times, making his line die, and sending a high pitched noise to the other communicators.

**…..**

"We need to go, now!" Said Zoe, and urged Kaylee and the boomerang back to the rope.

"We can't leave them"

"That noise in the communicator" explained Zoe "this was a sign. We have to go" they got out side in an impressive speed, and Kaylee took back her disruptor. They got back up on the zip-line flew away.

**…**

The first thing that Jayne saw was Mal lifting his hands up, but then he saw why. About 10 armed men, held their gun strait at him. Jayne lifted his hands two and walked slowly until he reached Mal, and stood next to him.

"Excellent" he heard a man speak in front of him "now that you are here we can begin" the man got closer and closer to the two, he was kind of short, well dressed and had a very obvious scar on his shoulder.

"Atherton" said Mal with a sigh, what a surprise.

Atherton lifted his sword to Mal's neck with a smile "I have waited so long for this, he said"

"Can't say I did" answered Mal shortly after.

Atherton giggled and drew his sword back, but told his men to keep aiming for their heads.

"Remember what I said earlier about, little swords not getting in the way of my true happiness?" Mal asked Jane with a crooked smile "well, I'm definitely not happy"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Revenge **

**-In Serenity-**

"We have to help them" said Zoe as she put the boomerang on the table.

"But how?" asked Kaylee, "We ain't have a clue to who's got them"

"Oh, I know who's got Mal" said Inara gracefully "Atherton"

"Yeah" said Wash put both his hands behind his neck "who is this clown anyways?"

"Atherton Wing" answered Inara, "he is a former client of mine. A master swordsman, that Mal bit, a few months ago"

"A sword?" asked Wash, "does the captain even know what a sword is?"

"He had a little help" offered Inara but got interrupted buy Zoe

"We need to bale the captain" she said, "even if it means a trade" she said while examining the boomerang carefully

"That won't help" said Inara "Atherton has to kill Mal in a sword-fight, in order to get back his dignity. And this time, he has no one to help him out"

"Not entirely true. He has Jayne" offered Wash, but after receiving some concerned looks from the rest of the crew, he sank back in his chair "right, he is doomed.."

**-Mal and Jayne****-**

Atherton giggled again "I think that we will get this charade outside. Will you gentlemen follow me" he said and headed towards the main entrance.

"Who's he calling gentlemen?" asked Jayne with annoyance, leaving his hands behind his head

"Can it, Jayne" whispered Mal

"Ain't gonna let him talk to me like that"

"What are you gonna do? Shoot him?"

"That's a plan"

"eehhmm" Atherton cleared his throat vehemently and turned around, as they all crossed the threshold. "Well, you see, we are in a bit of a….. an awkward situation. You see, you have something of mine"

"All of my things are my own, what about you Jayne" said Mal

"Nope" he said calmly "but I can give him some of my stuff. What would you prefer- a punch? Kick? How b'out a bullet?"

"Charming" said Atherton and, extracted the communicator out of Jayne's belt "very clever" he said after examining "killing the line like that… as I thought, left the power source intact.. A very risky move"

Mal exchanged looks with Jayne, and only then realized "I knew I forgot something- three taps, dead line, power thingy, 該死"..

Atherton through the communicator to one of his men. They were all so quiet that Mal forgot they were still aiming at his head. The man started to work vigorously on the device, opening its side, and wiring it with a knife.

"She wasn't your type you know" interrupted Mal.

Atherton seem to know exactly what she was talking about "Yes, Inara. How is she by the way?"

"Better now that she doesn't need to deal with a scum like you"

"Yes. She has told me once about the scum you make her 'deal' with. I know she is better off" he giggled again.

"Sir?" the man handed Atherton the fixed communicator, and he pressed on of the buttons on it and stated talking.

**-In Serenity-**

"_You have something of mine_" sounded a male voice echoing inside Serenity "_But also have something of yours_"

And then a small pause. "It is Atherton" whispered Inara. "We can't answer him" said Kaylee after trying to mess around with her communicator for a bit.

"_Actually, I seem to have two things of yours_" he continued "_And my offer is- the weapon for the ape_", "Hey!" they've heard Jayne's faint voice at the background

"_Inara will tell you where to meet me. And for our little.. transaction to be fair, Inara is allowed to bring one other member of your pathetic __crew to carry the weapon for her_", "Hey" this time it was Mal's voice.

"_Meet me there in two hours_"

**-Mal and Jayne-**

They found that two hours can go awfully fast while being threatened by a couple of shooters at an open field, the same field Mal and Atherton fought last time. They saw Inara and Zoe, as expected, walking towards them, slowly with a weird looking metallic case. They both reached the meeting point, under a sturdy oak- right in front of Atherton, and Mal and Jayne, that both sat on the floor quietly- Jayne's hands tied behind the tree.

"Inara" he spit out, how lovely to see you.

"Atherton", she replied with a rather bored look.

_Good girl_, thought Mal as he saw Zoe, checking the area, with long gazes. Later, she whispered something into Inara's ear, that to Mal's disappointment wasn't simply "sharpshooters run!", although there was no chance she could have missed them- those fancy aristocrats, always think they are buying the best people for their jobs, but know nothing about guns.

"Perhaps we should wait a bit before we make our transaction than"

"What for?" asked Zoe suspiciously.

"Because now I have two witnesses for the big fight"

"Your revenge" said Inara slowly "two witnesses, just as the rule states"

"You see, that here is your problem" said Mal, making Atherton turn around "always following the rules. You know that that is why I kicked your ass last time right"

"This time, it will be different" he said quite calmly "this time I have two friends, whose job is to make sure you don't do that again" he said and winked at one of his sharpshooters "now get up"

Mal stood at his feet and stepped into the middle of the field, just like last time, looking at Inara as he walked into position.

"Don't you think you are going a bit too fast with this?" offered Mal when one of the butlers gave him a skinny sword "I mean, common, you didn't even want to check if your precious boomerang is even in the case, which by the way I do not find familiar- Zoe, where did you get that box from?"

"Jayne's room, sir"

"Snagged it from doc's room" said Jayne, after he saw Mal looking at him.

"This is very interesting indeed" said Atherton, starting to lose his cool "and, for your question, dear captain, I do know the artifact is here" he said staring at the pommel of his sword. The pommel had a round little button on its end, barely noticeable at first, but after he pressed on it lightly, the button started blinking.

"I thought you said, that there would be no cheating" said Inara

"No cheating here" he justified himself "only, reassurance"

One of the butlers ordered them to fight after a few seconds, and they were off. This time, Mal could hardly hold his ground, and still managed to block all of Atherton's moves.

"I see you have practiced"

"Right, every night, before I go to bed, with my toothpaste"

"Don't aggravate him, Mal" whispered Inara quietly.

But he could not hear her, at the heat of battle, and miraculously he managed to block every move, yet did not attack at all.

"Fight me you coward!" Atherton spit

"As you wish" answered Mal and attacked him slowly.

"OK, now" whispered Zoe into her collar.

**-Sniping Post One- **

Book heard Zoe's command coming from his earpiece, and moved forward slowly, careful not to make a sound, avoiding any leaves or twigs that might alert the sniper. When, he finally reached him, he leaped on him, grabbed both his hands in a lightning speed, and then his neck. Shortly after that, he managed to free one of his hands, and knock on the sniper's head, to knock him down. No one heard him, piece of cake.

**-Sniping Post Two-**

Simon heard Zoe's command coming from his earpiece, and moved forward slowly, like the Book told him to, but accidentally stepped on a twig. The sniper turned, and Simon jumped him. He didn't know what to do, he managed to grab the sniper's neck, but he punched him in his ribs. He tried to go for his hands, managed to block one, and dodge the other by mistake, yet the kick was too much for him, and he slipped on the ground. The sniper pulled out of his belt a shorter gun and pointed it to Simon's head, but Simon was faster- while being on the ground, he managed to inject the sniper with his strongest sedative, and heard the sniper's body drop to the ground. _I can't believe I'm doing this, I can't believe I'm doing this_- he kept on whispering to himself as he started back.

**-Back at the Field-**

"We are ready sir" said Zoe, as she left the case in Inara's hands, and cut Jayne free.

"Excellent! Right on time" answered Mal, and started to lounge heavier attacks on Atherton.

"No" said Atherton, that saw Jayne standing straight "shoot them down!"

No answer came.

"OK. I might need to be creative" he said and hit Mal's sword as hard as he could, making him back down for a bit, leaving him enough time to press on the buttton at the base of his sword.

When he did that, the metallic case flew from Inara's hand's, straight into his, and he opened the case as fast as he could, getting his precious weapon out. Two of his butlers took out of their back, a couple of shotgun, and each of them aimed at a different target, one of them on Mal and the other on Jayne. Zoe and Jayne, exchanged looks and pulled out their own guns- Jayne from under his shirt, and Zoe from her back, and each of them hit one of the butlers.

"You see" said Mal "this is why you shouldn't go too fast about those king of exchanges.. . You just might miss something"

Atherton grinded his teeth, and threw the boomerang on Mal, pressing the button that made sharp razors appear on its sides. It all happened too fast- a shot, and a hit- Zoe's shot hit Atherton's scarred shoulder, and the fling razors hit someone, but it wasn't Mal. They hit Jayne right in the chest, and stayed dip in his chest, blocking the blood from trickling down his shirt.

"Ahh" spit Jayne, although the wound did not seem to affect him, he still stood tall "I guess I should be heading back then, he said and started to walk, towards where he reckoned the ship would be.

"At least it hides your scar" said Mal to Atherton when he dropped the sword in front of him, and then ran to help Jane.

**-In Serenity- River- **

The shuttle came back, and they all stepped out of it, with weird looks on their faces. She saw her brother rushing out of the shuttle, and then coming back with a med kit.

_I hope no one got hurt_, she managed to think in her own voice for once, but then saw Jayne stepping out of the shuttle, walking about slower than usual, with something stuck in his chest- maybe it was a game, she thought and a smile rushed to her face. But then she remembered her dreams, and all of her bad thoughts came back.

And again, she heard her own voice inside her head saying: _**Now I need to kill him myself**_.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: To Kill Or Not To Kill? **

**-River- **

Memories and thoughts just kept sipping in to River's mind, she could not stop them anymore, not even when she was awake- the faceless beings- KILL NO COLORS- "make them stop!" she cried at once, falling clumsily to the floor, holding her head as tight as she could, as if she could squish the thought out.

Through her tears, she managed to see her brother, coming to her side, living colorless Jayne to help her, as usual. He spoke to her, but she couldn't hear him- the voices were too much for her. She knew what he was going to say, he was going to make her sleep again, she couldn't let that happen to her. She crawled slowly to one of Serenity's walls, and dragged herself up slowly, leaning against the wall. Finally she managed to utter, "I'm fine", and left her brother. She ran as far away as she could, and the voices seem to disappear. No voices. Quiet.

She decided to go to her room, decided by her self- without the voices telling her to do so. She strolled down the halls until she reached her room, but then one voice became clear again- KILL NO COLORS. Yes. No, I can't. But I must.

"Awwwwww" she heard Jayne's voice echoing in the hall, "Watch it doctor! I plan on using that heart some day!"

KILL.

"That's not your heart Jayne!" her brother.. I can't, Jayne.. no..

**-Med Bay-**

"Stay still!" Simon yelled, trying to take the object out of Jayne's chest, without hurting his internal organs.

"I hope that 性交 boomerang is worth the trouble!" he said, searching the object for gold trimmings or something that will give away its market value.

Kaylee and Book both stood outside- she held her face as close as she could to the window, and he held his in his trusted bible, uttering a silent prayer for Jayne's sake.

"You should use Upraseling if you want him to live" came a voice from behind Simon. Simon looked behind him, holding the boomerang steady in Jayne's chest.

"River" he asked and turned his head back to the boomerang "why should I do that River? It's only for heart problems"

"Use it" she repeated "use it with Dylaftin"

"Are you trying to kill him?" he asked, out loud and turned to her at once, "You know that it will kill him River"

She turned to leave and a sly little smile lighted her face "maybe I do", she whispered so no could hear her.

Simon's words echoed in Kaylee's ears. She looked at River with a blank stare, thinking about what might have happened to River that might have made her want to kill Jayne- whit might have made her become so cruel. Soon, the memory of River killing three gunmen without even looking at them, came rushing to her mind. River had killed three men thinking it was game, is what is going to happen to Jayne? Kaylee could not get River's words, out of her head: "No power in the 'Verse can stop me".

As River came out of the Bay, dragging her bare feet on the metal floor, she stopped at once and looked at Kaylee's face. "No power in the 'Verse can stop me", she said and her sly smile, transformed at once into a genuine childish one.

Kaylee looked with terror into River's eyes, and then, with no farther ado, River left.

_No power in the 'Verse can stop me_, the words echoed in Kaylee's head.

**-Kaylee- **

_Where is he?_ Thought Kaylee, _why is he late?_

A metallic knock echoed in the engine room. Kaylee smiled at once, and opened the door. It was Simon.

"Sorry I'm late" he said, "Jayne couldn't stop moving. It took me a while to patch him up".

"Awww, it's OK" she said, locking the door behind him "I didn't mind to wait, I had Serenity as company" she said and pointed towards the engine.

Simon smiled the way he usually did when she talked about Serenity like that. _Wonder if it's a good smile_.

"How is Jayne?" she asked with a slight concern

"He will be fine, if he won't move for a while" he replied "although I've already caught him lifting weights!"

She smiled and stared at him, smiling.

"Yes, then" he said and cleared his throat "what's with all the secrecy?"

"Simon" she said and looked at his glittering eyes "I know you don't want to hear it, but"

"What is it? Is it about River?" he asked and his face showed genuine concern.

"No, it's.. I mean yes, but… it's not what you're thinking.."

"Kaylee? What is it?"

"I'm sure that she.. that she is a"

"Kaylee?"

"A Reader.. Simon, I am sure of it"

Simon flinched, but kept staring into Kaylee's eyes "We.. We've been over it" he said after realizing what she said "She can't be a Reader.. her head is too…"

"Simon please" she said and took his hand into hers "You remember? I told you about what she did to the three gunmen- how could you not see it".

"It, doesn't mean a thing" he said and took his hand out of her grasp, and lowered his gaze "she was just lucky.."

"That's not all" she said faintly

Simon lifted his head again.

"Today, when River came out of the Med Bay, she.. I.. I remembered that same day, the day she shot those men. I remembered what she said to me back then. And when she came out of the Bay, she looked into my eyes and said the exact same thing"

"No power in the 'Verse can stop me" he remembered the line, "It's just a game. She was just playing, or- thought that she was playing. Looking at you must have reminded her of that game".

"I don't think so Simon. But what will it take to make see the truth?"

"I see the truth," he said at once "she is just a child, a disturbed child. The Academy cut into her brain. She doesn't mean to do the things she does- she doesn't comprehend"

Kaylee, saw that talking about River, made him upset, and that was the last thing on the 'Verse she wanted for him, so she hugged him, without giving it a second thought.

After what seem to her as hours, he drew away from her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, hoping it wasn't something she did.

"It just occurred to me.." he said, lifting his head slowly "I haven't told this to anyone"

"What is it?" the thought that he might trust her with a secret exited her.

"It happened back on Jiangyin" he said and waited for her to remember.

"No! Are you talking about that破烂物胡扯孔的被骚扰的片断 planet, where you and River got kidnapped?"

"Yes"

"But you told us about it.. They were looking for a doctor to help them, and then they tried to kill you and your sister, like the backstabbing backbirthes that those people are".

"I might have starched that a bit" he said "the real reason they wanted to kill us was, River"

"Why?"

"A woman had the strangest idea that, River can…"

"Read minds?"

"They thought she was a witch" he said and dropped his head again "and I couldn't stop them, they tied her up to the pole and wanted to burn them, but I could not let them do that to her, I could not live without my sister. I told them, that they should kill me too"

"You are a good brother Simon"

"Not good enough" he said with obvious pain "Not until I take away her pain, her delusions"

She hugged him again.

**-River- **

She felt stronger that night, tried to oppose the voices. Nothing helped. They didn't stop attacking her mind. KILL NO COLORS- the faceless men. No!

Why? She tried to ask the leader of those faceless men, why should I kill Jayne? NO JAYNE, KILL NO COLLORS. Even in her dreams, she kept having those headaches, and she squeezed her head tight- why? She asked again. DEATH IS THE BRIGHTEST COLOR. They said at once and she could not see them anymore.

River woke up at once, almost bashing her head on her light lamp. Awww, she uttered, thinking that her head is about to explode at any second. But now, her propose was clear. She needs to see Jayne's colors, and not just the red one, she needs to see his bright colors.

She started to walk around her room, and before she knew it, she was in the halls. She heard her own voice, asking _what am I doing here?_ But then another one came, in Book's voice: _the lord is my shepherded_-she glanced left, towards where his voice came from, and she saw him looking at a mirror, but his lips were not moving.

_Albatross?-_ This was the voice of the captain, coming from her right, but he did not move his lips too.

_Honey_- Zoe's voice, looking at Wash, not moving her lips, and weird sensation took over her body.

_Zoe_- the same feeling, coming from Wash. His voice. Not moving his lips.

_It's too much!_- she thought in her own voice, and threw herself into the closest room to get away from the voices. She had never seen this room before, but it was also familiar. She stepped farther into the room, touching the walls lightly and tilting her head while dragging her feet upon the cold metal. She moved a piece of cloth, from the side of the bed- and a weapon arsenal stood before her. Jayne's room.

KILL NO COLOR. A smile came to her face, and she drew her hand near the shiniest weapon she saw. But, her smile faded away lightly. _No_! She said to herself. The captain said- "No touching guns". And she drew her hand back, leaving the room.

…

Later that evening, River decided to go to the dining area, she could not be tempted to kill Jayne with all those people next to her, or at least that was her hope.

"River" her brother said with a smile, "you finally came"

"Please, sit here River" said Inara and pointed at the chair next to her.

River felt happy. She didn't feel that happy in a long time. They all ate, and exchanged mindless ideas and stories, and she did not hear a single voice. She looked all around her, happy faces, everyone, having fun, eating, drinking, and Jayne. Her, gaze stopped at Jayne, that sat at the far end of the table. When she looked at him, she heard nothing. Nothing. Why couldn't she hear a thing?

"River?" her brother's voice broke the silence in her head, and all of the voices cam sipping in again. She stood up as quickly as she could, pushing the chair down as she did so. She held her head with pain, hoping for the voices to go away. Too many of them, they came from the people sitting next to the table.

She looked at Inara, and said "Are you all right?" repeating exactly what she heard in her mind. Repeated Inara's voice, but Inara was not talking, she did not move her lips. Why didn't she move her lips? She saw Inara's colors, as bright as the son in front of her eyes.

Then she heard the captain's voice, but he did not move his lips as well. She had to take the voices out of her head, so she spoke them up, repeating what she heard in her mind "Are you all right little Albatross?" his color was different today, a better one, warmer one.

Then she turned her head to Zoe, after hearing her voice in her mind, and repeated it: "Why isn't anybody helping her?" she had a purple aura around her face, and so did Wash.

They she turned her head towards her brother "Psychotic break" she said, repeating the words in her mind, feeling her brother touching her shoulder. Before he came to her, she managed to see his colors, they were bright as well, almost white.

Then she looked at Jayne. He didn't have any colors. She didn't hear his voice. "why can't I hear your voice?" she said at loud, squeezing her head tighter.

Then Wash's voice was in her head "Poor child" she repeated, watching his purple aura turning rather blue-ish.

Then Kaylee with a frightened sound "Not again" she repeated. Watching Kaylee's white color spreading to her heart.

"May god help you" she said as she heard Book's voice in her mind, and his white and black colors mingling together.

Then she looked again at Jayne. Still no colors. "Why can't I hear you?" she yelled, and then something caught her attention. It wasn't her brother's voice, the voice she heard outside of her head, calling for his bag. And It wasn't Book, that ran to the next room. But it was the captain. She turned her look towards him, and then stared in his eyes. She could hear something, but it wasn't the usual voice, she could see it too- it was a memory- one of the captain's memories. She saw him talking to Jayne, she knew the place-it was in the city where she felt the blue handed men. She saw the captain talking to Jayne, and Jayne answering with fear in his eyes.

"Sorry for what Jayne?" she repeated the captain's words, looking directly on him, "I thought you'd never do such a thing"

Then she turned her head towards Jayne and repeated his words from the memory: "The money was too good, I got stupid"

All of the gazes in the room left River's face, and turned directly to Jayne. She felt Simon loosening his grip, and then letting her go- he looked straight on Jayne. "I knew you did it" he said, knowing exactly what River uttered.

"I don't know what you mean" said Jayne

"No, You know exactly what I mean. I knew you did sell us up on Arial"

"No, I.." continued Jayne, looking all over the room for means of escaping, but then he saw the way the captain looked at him.

"I.. I did" he said slowly, and waited for the all the gasping to stop

Simon took a long breath and looked at River with great realization. Then he turned his face towards Kaylee and said to her at once, "I think you are right"

"Do you mind? I'm confessing here" said Jayne, and held his now aching chest "The money was too good. I'm sorry. It won't happen again, especially now that I know that they are all just 性交 jerks"

A smile came immediately to River's face. For the first time, she could see Jayne's colors. Bright colors came bursting out of his chest, right from his heart, and painted his entire body with a partly black and partly white aura. Those were his colors- they were true colors. And then she heard his voice in her mind: _unless they will offer more_.

"He is lying" River said with the brightest smile and true joy "Now I don't need this anymore" she said and drew from the inside of her dress, a sharp knife, and dropped it to the floor. And then she left the room, with a bright smile, and the voices in her head disappeared.

"Does she scare you too when she draws sharp objects out of her dress like that?" asked Mal with an undistinguishable look on his face.

**...**

Just wait for chapter 5: Mal is going to look for a way to cash the troublesome, but hopefully expensive item the team.. Obtained, and decides to take River with him. River is going to turn out to be more than just an "ordinary" Reader, to Simon's surprise, while the mystery of the faceless men will try to take form.

All and more in **chapter 5: " No power in the 'Verse can stop me"**

(feel free to subscribe and comment if you want to)


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: " No Power in the 'Verse Can Stop Me"**

"No! No! No!" Simon's head echoed in serenity "there is no way I'm letting you do this!"

"That's what I said" Jayne raised his voice along with his fist and slammed it on the door.

"You know why you can't come Jayne!" answered Mal with a, half-patient voice.

"But why River" asked Simon slowly.

"Because who will want to harm a sweet little girl like that" he asked smiling, looking at River, who stood next to him, tilting her head until she focused her gaze on the ceiling.

Simon returned another unpleasant look to Mal, stating the obvious.

"OK, besides from the government.. And people who might hate getting their minds read.. But this is why I chose this planet for the transfer"

"You are making a big mistake, don't you remember trying to sell the meds you stole a while ago- how did that turn out?" asked Simon in a sarcastic voice.

"Yeah. That is why I don't deal with old people anymore… Besides, we got the money.."

"But this time you won't have Jayne as a backup" reminded Simon.

"Yeah!" jumped Jayne as he heard his name.

"You can't come!" reminded him Mal "You will scare the customers!" he said, looking at Jayne's bloody shirt- wondering why the hell Jayne only owns one shirt..

"Nah, this will only show them what this baby can do" he said and taped three times on the box in Mal's arms.

"I'm coming with you!" proclaimed Simon, and turned Mal's attention towards him "If River is Coming, I am coming"

"You can't. This is a two men kind of job. Prearranged terms, breaking them will probably resolve in automatic shooting, and- I thought you love your little sister, why would you want them to shoot her"

"Then take me! Only me" answered Simon.

"Look!" said Mal impatiently. "I'm kinda in a tight spot over here… Inara is in Arial again, doing one of her checkups, and so are Zoe and Wash, that decided this is their anniversary or something like that.. And of course I can't take you or Kaylee.. Or the Shepherd for a gun-fight"

"Guns? You said…"

"No, I didn't mean.. OK.." said Mal and rubbed his forehead "this is what I'm trying to prevent… I need your sister to read the minds of this dimwit to check if the deal is valid. She finds out there are guns involved- we go away, look for another buyer.. Agreed?"

"I don't think it works like that" said Simon.

"Don't take jelly-brain, take me!" said River, gazing on Jayne's face- pronouncing his thoughts no doubt.

"See, she will do fine" said Mal with a faint smile.

"This is not how it goes, and you know it" continued Simon "I studied her abilities for a while now, and I can tell you that she can't read minds when she pleases. She kind of, feels it, the thoughts she reads have to be fuelled by very strong emotions for her to feel them.."

"So I will just have to make that guy really feel that he wants to kill me"

"That won't be hard" whispered Simon with a sigh, and then he felt a hand touching his wrist.

"Don't worry Simon" said River, in her reassuring voice, "We are going to play a **game**"

"That's right, just a game" said Mal, "but if you won't get to your sit now, the rules of the games might change. We are going to be late thanks to your brother"

Jayne, helped her climb to her sit, in the land-rover, in disdain. "I'll be in my bunk" he said and walked away.

"I'm still coming" said Simon "a little girl can't count as a man"

"You are one persuasive guy" said Mal, while he climbed to the driver's sit "I'll tell you what! You can come with us.. if you can catch us"

And he drove off with River.

Simon had no other choice but to start walking, through the sandy hills of Karniss, all by himself, following the track tires, in hope that it is not too late.

**-The Exchange-**

"Dammit" said Mal and stopped the vehicle behind a huge sand hill "they are already here, common". He helped River out, and they both started walking towards the two guys, that stood in a valley of sand.

"Sorry we are late" said Mal, after seeing the men's faces "got the weapon" he held the box close to his chest with his right arm, and Rivers hand by the other one.

One of the guys started laughing all of the sudden, and Mal automatically threw his look to River, trying to hear from her if it was a good cheery laugh, or a demonic- I'm gonna kill you kind of laugh. But River only stared at the man, silently, and with one of her blank looks.

His answer came soon "this is the second man you chose for this job?" the man asked, still giggling.

"Yeah, he is a really short feller isn't he" said the second man and he also got infected by this annoying laughter.

"Well, yeah.. I'm a little short on crew members right now" he explained, and left River's hand as they came to a stop.

"Let's see the weapon" said the taller one, the one who started laughing second.

"Sure" said Mal and opened the box with his finger print. The boomerang lay inside, closed, and his blue aura twinkled in the desert's sun. He pulled the weapon out of the box, and showed it to the customers, from afar.

"Doesn't look all that special to me" said the shorter man, and scratched his chin.

"Yeah, I forgot" said Mal and pressed one of the buttons on the boomerang, causing it to show it's blades.

"That is much better" continued the shorter man, and examined it from afar, "what does the other button do?"

"Makes it come back to you when you throw it, it's quite helpful, I'll tell you that"

"So, it is used.." said the other one, pausing "I guess this calls for a discount"

"Sorry gentlemen" said Mal and put the weapon back into its box "under 3000 will be a lost cause for you guys"

"2500" said the tall one

"Haven't you heard me?" asked Mal, and then whispered to River "Haven't they heard me?"

"I can't tell" whispered River back, "I hear a cricket" she said and turned her head, looking for the cricket.

"I would have been better off with your brother" he whispered slowly.

"What would it be then" asked the short one.

"Tell you what, since I went to all that trouble getting that thing, but I'm a nice guy after all, I can drop it to 2900.."

"2600" said the tall one

"2800 is my last offer- take it or leave it"

"Yeah. I think we will take it" said the short one and took his money pouch from under his shirt, counting the money. Then, he came towards Mal, and handed him a handful of coins.

**-Simon- **

I am going to kill Mal- was the only thing he thought about, or the only thought that sweated out of his body. He never felt so tired in his life. Wait. Simon noticed something in the distance. It was the land- rover. Finally. He gained every bits of strength he still had, and started running towards it.

Mal and River, are not back yet? That is weird- at least this thought took over the last one of him wanting to kill Mal, although he will have to do it if anything bad would happen to River.

Finally, Simon climbed over the sandy hill, that the vehicle hid behind, in hope to see his sister. He did not like what he saw.

**-The exchange- **

The short guy dragged the box back to his partner, as Mal counted the change- it didn't take long for him to understand that something was wrong "where are the other 2 grand you owe me?" he started, clutching his hand tight on the 800 he held.

"Well, this is our final offer" said the short one and tried to open the box "take it or leave it"

What happened next, happened so fast that Mal could not believe his eyes- he took a step forward to demand his money back, and as he did, he felt a hand brushing against his thigh. River, grabbed his gun, and started shooting towards, well, everywhere, all six shots were fired, and the next thing Mal heard was the sound of the two man dropping to the ground, and then his empty gun, half sinking in the sand next to River's feet.

Mal looked around shocked, he didn't know what to say, except for the obvious "River! what did I say about not touching guns?"

But then River returned one of her most innocent smiles, and with a happy voice, as if she had just won her game, she said "no power in the 'Verse can stop me". And started walking back to the rover, legs, half sinking in the sand as she did so- but she still climbed back gracefully, with the smile.

Mal picked his gun and the money, he did not even notice dropping to the sand. One shot to each head, he thought as he walked towards the box and lifted it slowly.

He started to walk back to the rover himself, when a thought hit his brain. He dropped the box to the floor, and started to walk toward another direction- one direction he was sure River shot towards. His path ended by another sandy hill, and he decided to climb it, perhaps she shot some one that hid on top of it- that would be a great strategic place to hide on, and if she didn't , well, she did manage to hit those two guys… she probably just read their minds to find out they wanted to kill him..

He reached his hand for the hill, and then his legs to climb it, but, the sand was too slippery, and his hands just sinked into the sand. Figures- he thought and tried to pull his hands out, but then he hit something hard, inside the hill itself. He tilted his hands to get them loose, and then he hit another solid object- this object was round and smooth. Weird.

He tilted his hands again to get them out, but his right arm accidentally brushed against the smooth object he touched, and then the sand in front of him, disappeared completely.

He found himself looking at a shooting post- his right hand still touching that smooth object inside. He pulled his hand back and noticed that it was a button. The push of that button revealed a shooting post that hid inside the sandy hill.

He knew exactly what it was- an advanced holographic projection- he used those ones in the battle of Serenity. The projection would always be of a partly solid thing, lie rock steel or sand, and it also looked and felt real- but the person that sat inside his shooting post could very much see through the projection and shoot through it.

No! He thought, repressing scenes of the battle from his head.

From the corner of his eye he saw a dead body, shot in the head by River.

If he knew something about those posts- it would be that they are all connected to each other. He moved the body to the side, gently, and exposed a key, hanging on a necklace around his neck. He took the key, and he knew exactly where the keyhole was- he pressed the button again- twice, and then the button opened up- split to two in its middle, and a small key hole lay there- Mal turned the key in its hall and looked around. Three other shooting posts lay around the valley- and each shooter got shot in the head by River.

Mal remained there, speechless.

**-Simon- **

Although it was quite far, Simon saw the whole thing: he saw the shooting, and the dead men in the sandy hills- it was horrible- all done by his sister- his sweet and innocent sister.

"I told you we will be playing a game" said River and passed Simon. She climbed majestically into her sit, and started gazing at a butterfly that flew by.

Simon returned a fake smile to his sister- trying to take in all that he saw- it was all quite simple to understand of course- River read their minds before they attacked, and then she.. although he knew she meant well- he couldn't shake the feeling, that he was seeing her now for the first time- a new side of his sister he never knew existed- the part that the government created- but he also knew, that she was still his sister, and when he saw Mal climbing the hill back, after thinking things through for himself down at the valley, he realized that he knew that too.

Mal looked at River with a smile as he climbed back to the rover with the box still in his hands- "why do I get the feeling that it will be quite hard to sell this thing?" he asked River, and Simon climbed to the rear of the rover.

River returned a smile to him and then her brother. When she looked at him, Simon knew that she read his mind, and he was certain she read Mal's too, when she looked towards the horizon Serenity lay still and said- "let's go home"

…**.**

Just wait for chapter 6- when the crew will get a short visit from their man hunter friend, and also- the true identity of the faceless people will be revealed- and as you guessed- THEY ARE REAL.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: "They're Coming"**

-**River**-

"You have to wake up!" she yelled, shaking Simon's torso as he slowly regained awareness of his surroundings. He sent out a short yawn, and slowly looked for the source of the voice.

"River?" he asked although he wasn't sure it was really her, and he sat up sleepily in his bed, slowly rubbing his right eye with the tip of his sleeve.

"Faster, Simon! It is not safe!" she continued, while putting her hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he asked after sobering up, and put his hands on her shoulders, trying to catch a glimpse of eyes, without any success. She kept randomly moving them in their sockets, and never seem to look at something in particular.

_Voices, whispers in the wind, whispers coming from the metal, from the ship_. "I can hear them" she said, trying to keep her head for herself for once, without any destructions- easier said than done. The whispers remained dim, but she was sure she heard them before, she was sure of it.

"You have to come!" she said, trying to close her eyes to focus on the whispers, but there were too many of them, all talking at once.

"Come here River" her brother said calmly, "You are just having another bad dream" he said and stood up, looking for something through his bags "this should help you go back to sleep", he said pulling a big syringe from a metal briefcase he kept on the table. He held her left arm gently, and gave her one of his reassuring looks.

"No!" she said, trying not to scream so they will not hear her.

Simon let go of her arm, although he obviously did not want to. He gave her one of his "I wish I knew what was going on in your head" kind of looks, and then stared at her blankly, like he was waiting for her to tell him what to do.

"They are coming, we need to go now!" she half whispered now, trying to convince him with her eyes.

"Who is coming?" he asked her at last. She knew he didn't want to ask her, and she knew that he would probably never believe her, but she had to try.

"The men with no faces" she said looking terrified.

He gave her the same look again, and said with a reassuring voice "No one is coming. It's just a dream, River" and he pulled in for a hug.

She pulled away from him, and looked at the walls of the ship, flipping her eyes from one wall to another. The voices were still very dim, but she thought she could hear them better now, and realized at once, that they were getting closer.

"No time!" she said and tried to pull her brother to safety, trying to drag him out of his room- but he was so heavy.

"River, please.." he said and caught a short glimpse of the syringe he put back on the table, but before he could do anything, a weird metallic echo, sounded in the hall.

"It's them" River whispered, almost to herself. She sat on her brother's bed, holding her thighs close to her heart, trying to think.

"It's nothing" her brother said, "I'll show you". He walked slowly towards his door, and unlocked it. River dropped her legs to the floor, and went to help her brother, who disappeared into the hallway.

"Hello?" she heard his echo in the hall, and she felt it trickling through her skin like drops of shattered glass, climbing through her feet till it reached her heart. Although her heart pounded like a drum, she knew she had to help her brother, so she emerged slowly to the hall, trying to ignore the mixed sounds and whispers she heard more loudly now. Simon was alone in the hall, looking for the source of the metallic sound.

"Please Simon, we need to hide" she whispered, or at least she thought she did, but no sound seemed to come out of her mouth. It was too late anyways- just as Simon turned around to tell her no one is going to hurt her, or maybe to prove it was only a dream, he caught a glimpse of a movement from the corner of his eye. He turned his head for a mere second, and then he knew at once what his sister talked about. At the further side of the hall, stood a dark shadowy figure, standing in a cloud of mist, wearing a blackish-brown hood, that covered his face completely. He reached out his hand, as if he could catch Simon, from the opposite side of the hall, his skeletony cracked fingers, reaching out from under his too long hood, eager to snap Simon's neck.

Simon stood there petrified, and River managed to grab him from behind, and pull him back into his room. Without any extra thought, she locked the door to his room, and dropped to her knees at the spot. She was overwhelmed by both the terror cursing through her veins, and the whispers, that started to change into screams. Simon leaned towards his little sister and gave her a reassuring hug trying to be brave for her, although she could feel he was shaking both inside and out.

"We have to get out" she whispered, after pushing away the voices. She tried to push the fear away, but she could not. _Feels everything she can't not_… she heard her brother's voice inside her head, like that of a strange forgotten memory. She stood up, and started looking for a way out of the room. Simon looked around as well, and as he fixed his gaze on several different objects, she heard his voice inside her head again-_ I can hide her in the closet, or under the bed… I should hide her where it won't find her_.

"No, Simon" she whispered and looked into his eyes with great gratitude, "we will both escape". As she said that, she caught a glimpse of something behind Simon's head- the ventilation system. Simon turned around to see what she was looking at, and then started looking for a screwdriver to unscrew the bolts without any hesitation. He flipped his bags, and emptied them as he went, accidentally pushing the syringe from the table- hearing it break on the floor. Along with the sound of a glass being shattered, a second voice shocked the room- the sound of pounding over metal. River turned her looks towards the metal door, and saw shallow little humps merging on it, every time a pounding sound echoed the room.

River felt fear building up in her, and overflowing her body- she wanted to scream so bad, but the screams just got caught in her throat. Not only that, the mixed voices in her head returned, with a new high pitch, deafening sound. She lowered her head to the floor, trying to focus on making the voices stop, covering her ears. As she did so, she noticed something that made all the voices in her head disappear at once. She saw the small syringe her brother broke. She lifted it carefully, and examined it in her hands. It was one of his new syringes- you could use it forever, because it was made of metal- all but the vial like tube that was made of glass which broke, and two other parts- the needle part, which was a basic replaceable metal head, and the other part was on top of the handle- right where you place your thumb- this part was made of removable plastic- so it could be molded to better fit the fingers, and then replaced in case it melted or something.

River took the cap off of the handle of the syringe, and luckily for them, it took the shape of a cross-tipped screwdriver- the handle created a perfect X shape. "Simon" she whispered and continued to examine the syringe-screwdriver. He turned to her, and caught her gaze. A smile lighted his face, and he kissed her forehead. He took their new screwdriver and carefully took the rest of the glass shreds out. She could hear him say in her head- _that's the sister I know_.

The screwdriver was a bit small, but it still did the job- Simon unbolted the screws as fast as he could, and then prompt River to go in before him. They crawled in the ventilation system, or maze more like it, for quite some time, and River could hear Simon's voice in her head saying- _Kaylee_.. as he continued crawling behind her.

"I think that this is the engine room" Simon whispered after a while, starting to unscrew the screws behind her, but River heard the mixture of voices in her head- they nearly shouted, so she knew they were here- she knew that they needed to wait until they were only whispers.

"No" she whispered back "forward" she continued crawling, and Simon did not stop to question her again.

After a while they reached a dead end. "We should get out here, warn the others" whispered Simon, and looked at River. She could nearly hear the whispers in her head now- they were far. She moved aside to let Simon unscrew the bolts. After he did, he went into the room first, to find out if it was safe or not. He went to examine the room, and returned after a couple of seconds, signaling River to crawl out. "I think that this is Wash's and Zoe's room" he said and looked around "but they are not here" he added. He went to lock the door, and then continued to examine the room, looking for the hiding place of the two of them, or at least Zoe's, in case Wash was still piloting the ship.

"Something is wrong" she said at once, as Simon looked under the bed.

"What's wrong?" he asked her and gave her a sympathizing look.

"It's too quite" she said, putting one hand on her head, watching Simon, finishing his examination of the room. At last, he noticed a closet that was part hidden behind the wall, and decided that it would be the best hiding place for the both of them. But as he placed his hands on the door knobs of the closet, River knew what was wrong.

"No!" she started, but her brother already swung the door wide open.

A human hand hanged from outside of the closet as he opened it, and something leaned on it from the inside, and caused the door to open slowly by itself. After a few seconds, Wash's dead body fell flat to the floor, and Zoe fell on top of him. Although their eyes where open, Simon was sure they were dead, but still, they both looked so alive, although they were murdered only a second ago.

River dropped again to the floor, feeling the pain and the silence of the dead filling her body, drying up her throat, and yet, still managing to leave enough water for her eyes to weep. Her tears fell coldly on her cheeks, and made it all the way to her neck. She felt, what seemed to be, all the pain and sadness in the world, but she could not look away- like she needed something to remind her of the cruelness of the faceless people, and why they all need to escape.

Her brother fell to her side, and hugged her. He tried to block her view of the bodies with his wide shoulders, but although she could not see them now, she could still feel them, their nothingness, the love that will never be. She could not hear their voices in her head anymore, and she could simply not stop crying.

"We have to go" her brother said after what seemed like forever- she could feel her tears running out, taken by the dryness of her throat and heart. She gathered all her strength, and tried to stand, but although her brother helped her out, she felt dizzy, and tripped into his arms. He held her up in his arms, and carried her towards the ventilation system, and although she could not see anything behind the haze from her tears, she knew one thing- "we can't go from here" she said at once, and pushed herself down from her brothers arm. The voices took over her head again, and the feeling of true and profound sorrow changed into an uncanny fear and terror, that sent shivers down her spine. She went towards the front door and unlocked it.

"River.." Simon whispered, but he knew better, and chose to follow her blindly. She went into the hallway slowly, and listened to the voices in her head, following the ones she could barely hear, going left, and then right. They continued like that until they reached a dead end- she heard the voices coming towards them, strong as ever, and they both entered, the only door that was not locked at the time. River locked the door, yet leaned on it, letting fear embrace her- following the voices in her head.

She knew one other thing- this was Book's room, and it was empty- from every living bring. She felt torn between feelings of sorrow and fear, as she listened both to the hollowness and silence in Book's room- the sound of the dead, and on the same time she listened to the mixture of whispers in her head, turning slowly into shouts and screams. They were getting closer and there was nothing she could do about it. In the meanwhile, she caught a glimpse of Book's bed, and saw his lifeless arm, resting itself on a pillow. Her brother stood right behind her, no doubt trying to shield her from the horrifying scene.

She found it extremely hard to concentrate with both the dead and the living taunting her head at the same time, but she took extra care of following the mixture of voices behind the door. The voices soon became deafening shouts again, and she knew the faceless men were just outside of this room.

She felt a hand, or merely a finger touching her shoulder, when she tried to focus on the deafening voices in her heads, trying not to move. She felt another brush against her shoulder. She wanted to tell Simon to stop, that they could not move or it will be too late, but then she thought this might be important. She felt a head splitting pain from the mixture of voices behind the door, voices of men and women. She tried to turn her head towards her brother, so she will not make a sound, and then she saw a finger on her shoulder- and it was not her brother's- it was a white skeletony finger, that looked kind of cracked. But as she turned around, the voices even grew louder in her head and then she could not hear or see anything anymore, she sank to the floor into nothingness.

"River" she heard a faint, vague whisper.

"River" the voice and sound became more coherent.

"Simon" she whispered while trying to open her eyes. At last, everything became clear. She could see Simon, sitting on his knees next to her, in the cargo bay of the ship. He leaned on one of the boxes, and continued saying her name "River!"

"Simon" she whispered again, in a more coherent way.

He smiled to her then, with a sour-sweet kind of smile, and looked right into her eyes. "I'm sorry" he said

"What for?" she asked, feeling confused. But as she asked that, she saw someone behind the box Simon leaned on. It was one of the faceless men, hiding behind his long hood.

"GOOD" a sound that sounded like a hiss echoed the room "YOU ARE AWAKE. IT DID NOT TAKE LONG, YOU MUST BE STRONGER THEN ANICIPATED"

The voice did not come out of the faceless man, like she expected- it came from behind her. "HELLO TAINTED ONE" the voice repeated as she turned around. She saw another faceless man there, but it wasn't the thing that surprised her the most. What she first considered as the usual darkness of the cargo bay, was in fact, the black long robes of dozens of faceless men, all surrounding her and her brother. River could hardly breathe; she felt the air running out of her lungs at once, like someone punched her in the stomach.

"YOU COULD NOT HAVE EXPECTED IT TO BE THAT EASY DID YOU, TAINTED ONE?" he asked her.

She was speechless.

Although they had no faces she could swear they all smiled at her. "YOU CAN'T SPEAK? THAT'S FINE, WE NEED YOU TO LISTEN" he said and paused for a bit "WE WILL BE COMING GOR YOU" he said at last, but River could not quite comprehend what he meant by that- they were all there now.

And then, the same faceless man, took his skeletony hand, and jabbed it right inside of Simon's stomach. Simon gagged and gasped for air, and the whole area around his stomach received a black color tone.

"No!" she yelled as hard as she could, feeling tears fall down her cheeks again "No! Please! I'll do anything"

"DON'T WORRY!" he said and turned his head towards her "YOUR TIME WILL COME. WE ARE COMING FOR YOU!" he said, and jabbed his other hand into River's own chest. She could feel the air and blood draining from her lungs, but she still managed to let out a terrifying scream.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh" she yelled as hard as she could.

-**Simon**-

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh" he heard River's voice echoing in Serenity. He rushed to her room, grabbing his metallic suitcase. He rushed in, and saw River lying on her back, on the floor, sweat covering her brow.

"It is all right" he said and lifted her to her bed, hugging her in his arms before he laid her down. Then he pulled a metallic syringe, and put some sort of transparent liquid inside it. He lifted River's left sleeve, and as he put the needle close to her skin, she caught his hand with her right one- holding him tight.

"Their coming!" she said, looking deep into his eyes.

"Not tonight" he said as he injected her "those are some stronger meds, they should help you relax. You will feel better in the morning" he said and kissed her sweaty brow. The meds were indeed stronger, it took River about half a minute to fall back to sleep.

As she fell to sleep, he left her room and left his briefcase in her room- he felt like he could not carry it anymore. She could never open it, he thought as he walked down the hall. His walking, soon turned into running, and he stopped only as he reached the engine room. He came inside and locked the door behind him, not even checking if Kaylee was in there or not. He just locked the door, turned around, and started bursting into tears. Although he could only see her beautiful hair, he had a feeling Kaylee was there. She walked towards him, and hugged him silently. He put his head on her shoulder, until his tears, slowly subsided.

….

Just wait for the next chapter! It's going to be great, bringing back all of the favorite characters of the crew, trying to figure out together the story of the faceless men River has been seeing.

Please, feel free to write reviews (I want to know if I am on the right track here). Feel free to tell me what you think and offer new things

Until next time just remember: **no power in the 'verse can stop Firefly**!


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